11-23-8 Box Squats

1. Box Squats-Reverse Blue Bands-225x2,315x2,405x2,495x2,635x1
2. Cambered Bar Goodmornings-135x5,185x5,225x5,275x5
3. Reverse Hypers-Head Inclined-270x12,305x3x10
4. Ab Wheel-3x15

Pretty good session tonight. Back is fried right now but feels good.

11-24-8 DE Bench Press
1. Bench Press with 5 sets of 3/8" chain-95x5x5
2. Dumbbell Bench Press-40sx35,20
3. Throat Presses(hands on smooth bring bar to the throat with elbows wide and press up)-95x8,135x3x6
4. Rear Delt Raises-40sx3x10
5. Close/parallel grip chins-10 lbs x3,2,2
Did 2 sets of light reverse hypers before bench presses

My old training partner is starting up again and we talked over Thanksgiving. What have I gained on my lifts in the last 2 years? Not much. Definately not enough! What have I been doing? Switching programs every week and training in gear most of the time. What we decided to do was stick with a plan( 5/3/1) and train raw. Set training weights low to start with and build some muscle and set a goal to do a meet in summer 2009.
My training percentages for the 5/3/1 cycle will be...
Squat-365
Bench-250
Deadlift-365
Shoulder Press-150
Every four weeks this will be updated.
12-1-8- Deadlifts and Shoulder Press
1. Raw, Conv. Deads-295x3,315x3,335x6
2. Seated Shoulder Press-115x3,125x3,135x8
3. Chins-10x4x3
4. Rear Delt Raises-40sx3x10
5. Dumbbell Curls-40sx2x8

12-3-8 Squats
1. Raw Free Squats-295x3,315x3,325x3
2.a. Free Squats-185x3x5
2.b. 45 Degree Back Raises-monster mini x3x10
3. Sit Ups on the GHR-3x10
After the squats we decided to drop the max weight for squats to 335. This will give us a better run over the long term. I have been relying on gear for way too long and I am WEAK!

Are you training with your partner again, then? Good to see! I'm excited to watch your progress (as I'm a Raw guy! )

A guy lifted with me at work today and said he'll come to the house tomorrow for Deadlift day!!! We'll see how long he lasts. He has no excuse. He's a firefighter so he has access to what I have and a favorable schedule.

How are you going to wave your cycles...what %'s will you use?

For what it's worth, here's a Raw site and forum I go to.

http://rawpowerlifting.proboards62.com/

Great Raw info. Lots of strength there. Lots of beginners and intermediates there as well. There's a lot of guys who do equipped and Raw stuff....and some just equipped, but they come and post.

Aaron Somebody posts there....an equipped 2300# guy ( you might know him) and his Raw stuff is nuts as well.

The guys are very friendly and encouraging. I enjoy is there.

I am following the 5/3/1 Cycle from Jim Wendler. It's only had great reviews and I NEED some raw work to get strong again. My partner is one of my very best friends. He won't let me take it easy. I'll check out the forum.

12-5-8 Bench Press
1.Bench Press-Thumb away from smooth-205x3,215x3,225x8
2.a. Illegal Wide Bench-135x5x10
2.b. T-Bar Rows-Close Grip-90x5x10
3.a. Plate Raises-45x2x8
3.b. Rear Delt-40sx2x10

12-8-8 Deads and Shoulder Press
1. Conv. Deads-275x5,295x5,315x10
2. Shoulder Press-105x5,115x5,125x10
3. Ab Wheel-4x10
Short on time tonight so just hit the main stuff.

12-10-8 Squats
1. Squats-255x5,265x5,285x8
2.a. Squats-195x10,195x5,5
2.b. Romanian Deads-225x3x5
3.a. Band Side Bends-small band-3x10
3.b. Band Ab Work-green band-3x10
3.c. Reverse Hypers-180x3x10

12-12-8 Bench
1. Bench Press-185x5,205x5,215x12
2.a. Ultra Wide Bench-145x5x10
2.b. Bentover Rows-135x5x10
3.a. Dumbbell Shoulder Press-40sx3x10
3.b. Band Pullaparts-mini bandx3x10

12-15-8 Deads and Shoulder Press
1. Raw/Conv Deads-275x5,315x3,345x5
2. Shoulder Press-115x5,125x3,145x8
3. Hang Cleans-135x3x5
4. Core-Bar Sit Ups-3x10

12-17-8 Squats
1. Squats-255x5,285x3,315x6
2. Romanian Deads-135x2x15
3. Chins-3x5
4. 45 Degree Back Raises-3x15
5. Sit Ups-3x20

12-19-8 Bench
1. Bench Press-185x5,215x3,235x6
2. Illegal Wide Bench-155x2x10
3. Side Laterals-10sx3x20
4. Small Band Pushdowns-3x20

This the first day of my deload week. It's the first time I can remember doing a deload except the week before a meet and to be honest, I don't feel like I NEED to deload. I am going to deload just because I feel it will most likely lead to a better run in the future and because it is a holiday week and I feel lazy...
12-22-8 Deads and Military
1. Deadlifts-225x5,235x5,255x5
2. Military Press-85x5,95x5,105x5
3. Face Pulls-small bandx a bunch
4. Sit Ups-bunch

12-24-8 Squats(Deload)
1. Squats-205x5,225x5,235x5
2. 45 Degree Back Raises-3x15
3. Sit Ups-Don't remember how many.
4. Grippers

12-26-8 Bench(Deload)
1. Bench Press-155x5,165x5,175x5
2.a. Band Pulldown Abs-small band-2x20
2.b. Band Pushdowns-small band-2x20
3. 3 Way Laterals-10sx2x10 each way.
Wel, I actually made it through a full cycle of something. I think this is a milestone for me! Notes on this cycle....
1. I need to make assistance work more important.
2. More Abs(heavy)
3. More lat and upper back.
4. Get in better shape to train.
5. May rearrange the stuff a bit on the next cycle. The 5/3/1 stuff is going to continue as planned but the assistance stuff may be different.

Starting the second wave odf 5/3/1 Training today.
Last cycle went pretty well but I plan to make some changes with assistance work but will stay on track with the 5/3/1 Method.
For this cycle my lifts will be based on the following max weights
Squat-350
Bench-255
Deadlift-375
Bench Press Lockout-400
12-29-8 Deadifts and Military Press
1. Deads-Raw/Conventional-295x3,315x3,335x6
2. Military Press-125x3,135x3,145x8
3. Close/Parallel Grip Chins-5x3
4. Shrugs-225x3x10
5. Curls-85x3x8